Eternity In Your Arms
by ershey
Summary: {co-written} the sequel to "Forever in your eyes". Kris gets an unexpected surprise when Rachel meets someone from Kris' past.
1. chapter one

**ETERNITY IN YOUR ARMS**

**By Kim and Trish **

** Chapter One **

** 1899 **

It was the middle of the night and Mush could hardly close his eyes. The room was dark and everybody else was sleeping soundly in their beds. Mush looked to his left and saw Blink snoring quietly on his back. It's been six long months since the incident, and Blink still wasn't himself. _I need to think… _Mush sighed, put his shirt on, stood up and walked over to the window. He quietly opened the window and climbed down the fire escape. 

Mush found himself walking around Central Park and heading towards the place where he kissed Kris. _It's been six months… she couldn't have just gone like that! She was with me that night when… Mush started to finger the ring that Kris gave him. It had a golden band and a small shimmering round stone in the middle. The night she left, he ran a string through it and had worn it as a necklace since, never allowing it to leave his sight. The ring was like Kris, always close to his heart. _

_Hey… where am I?_ Mush was so deep into his thoughts that he didn't notice where he was going. He looked up and saw a two-story building in front of him. He knew every part of Manhattan, but this part of Manhattan seemed unfamiliar to him. _This is weird… I've lived here all my life, and I've never seen this building before… _Without knowing it, he had opened the front door and walked inside. 

**Present **

** "All I hear is raindrops falling on the rooftop… Tell me why'd you have to go… 'cause this pain I feel won't go away… and today I'm officially missing you…" Kris was walking around singing softly to herself. After her dream, she became confident in singing. She sang for herself, Emily, and most of all, Mush. A few days after the incident, Kris concluded that it was just a dream. _How can you time travel? That's so stupid… I just needed to dream… and I end up dreaming of Emily, Mush, and New York during 1899… _ **

Kris was looking through her DVD collection, trying to see what would be nice to watch that night. Her parents were out for three days on a business meeting, leaving her alone. She ended up scheduling a sleepover since she didn't want to be lonely, and of course, no parents! A girls' night out was exactly what she needed. 

_Rachel's ten minutes late! What's taking her so long?! _Kris looked out the window and found no sign of Rachel. Kris sighed. Rachel was usually late… it wasn't something new. _I'll just put up posters in my room… _

She walked over to her room and opened a drawer, which was full of magazines. She picked the very first from the pile, and started flipping through the pages. She finally found a page, which had a Pepsi advertisement on it. _This looks good enough. _She found a roll of tape on her desk, cut off a piece and started putting it on the back of the page. _How am I supposed to reach THAT?!_ Kris looked up the wall and found a perfect space for it, only it was too high. _I can reach it… if I can only… _Kris stepped on a bunch of drawers, hoisted herself up and placed her other foot on the desk next to the drawers. 

Suddenly she heard the doorbell. _Great… right when I'm putting up posters!_ Kris shouted, "Come In!" 

Kris heard footsteps walking around. "Tawny! It's me! Rachel! Where you at? Um… we gotta talk about something!" 

"I'm in my room! Just come in, I'm putting up posters and stop calling me Tawny!" 

"But its such a cute nickname!" Kris saw Rachel standing at the doorway, holding her backpack. She was shorter than Kris, short black hair, and green eyes. "I got all the stuff you asked for… and, um… something else…" Kris eyes darted back and forth. Kris noticed that she kept on looking at something at the hallway. 

"What is it? You got me a boyfriend?" Kris chuckled and looked down at Rachel. She was still putting up her posters. 

"Why don't you come here…" Rachel answered. 

"I am here!" Kris replied. But she found out that she wasn't talking to her. She was looking at the hallway. It was a boy their age. He had brown curly hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing an engineer hat, a white blouse with a blue vest and black cut-off pants. Kris suddenly knew who it was. _Mush! _

There was silence in the air until Rachel said, "Um… Tawny… do you guys know each other? He's dressed as a Newsie… alright I'm not here." Rachel looked from Kris to the boy she had met outside. They were both staring at each other. 

_Oh my God! It's Mush! So it was real! He's really here! _Kris felt the desk underneath her feet move. Her feet started to slip as she started to fall backwards. 

"Whoa! I got you!" Mush stepped forward, held out his arms, and caught Kris right before she fell on the floor. 

Rachel laughed, "Hey, nice reflexes! If you didn't catch her, she would've been… um, anyways… you guys?" Rachel looked at Mush and Kris. He was still holding Kris in his arms. _Oh my goodness… "Hey!" Rachel started to poke Mush on the shoulder. "You can put my friend down… hey Tawny he looks sooo familiar!" _

Mush finally realized what he was doing and gently put Kris up on her feet. "Um… sorry…" 

Rachel eyed Mush curiously. "You guys look like you know each other… Tawny? Are you alrite? You look like you just saw a ghost." 

Kris jumped, "Oh! How many times do I have to tell you Rachel? Call me Kris!" 

Rachel waved her hand, "Oh forget that, I was talking about him!" Rachel pointed at Mush. 

_What am I supposed to say? That I went back in time, met him, and fell in love with him?! She's not gonna believe me! Thank God Rachel's got a big soft heart! _"I… uh… I me-met…ss- saw… I…" 

_She's stuttering! It really is Kris! _"We met a few months ago!" Mush looked at Kris and eyed her. 

"Oh… yah! We met a few months ago… " Kris chuckled. 

"No wonder I don't know you. I just moved a few days before school started. And where did you guys meet? 1899?" Rachel laughed jokingly. 

"I've been trying to tell you! I'm from…" Mush exclaimed.  
  
"Uh… Um… so how'd he get here?" Kris asked. 

"Well, I was walking to your house and he came up to me asking me what year it is. So I thought I'd bring him over here." Rachel tiptoed over to Kris and whispered in her ear. "I think he hit himself or something…" Rachel pointed at her head. She looked over at Mush who was looking very interested at her computer. "And I don't think he's got anywhere else to go… I mean, look at what he's wearing! Why don't we let him stay here for the night?" Rachel asked and looked at Kris who was still shocked seeing Mush again. "I mean, you met him a few months ago… so it'd be alrite… right?" Rachel was whispering the whole time so that Mush wouldn't hear. 

"Um… right. Sure… he can stay for the night… since my parents aren't home." _This is gonna be really really weird…_ "He can sleep on the couch," said Kris in her normal tone. 

Rachel smiled. "Cool. Um... what's your name?" 

"Mush. Just call me Mush." Mush walked over to Kris and Rachel. 

"Ooh, funny nickname! I'm Rachel. Ok, so I guess you'll be staying here for the night. That's fine right?" Rachel had a habit of helping people in need. Even though it occasionally meant dragging Kris with her, and offering assistance on behalf of her friend. 

But before Mush could answer, Kris quickly cut in. "We're gonna be sleeping on the couch. There's already pillows and blankets there since Rachel's gonna sleep over." 

Mush's eyes widened. "Are you sure? You wouldn't mind having me sleeping next to the two of you?" 

Kris was about to say no, but changed her mind when she saw Rachel with a worried look on her face. "I dunno…" said Kris uncertainly. 

Mush shook his head. "I'll just sleep by myself. I'll be fine." 

"But… hey! Where are we supposed to sleep then?" Rachel whined. 

"In here! It's just the same as the living room! I got a TV, computer, DVD player… all we need's a fridge and we're all set!" Kris replied. 

"Ah, ok. Well, I guess it's the same." 

_Why isn't she talking to me? What's wrong? _"Where's the couch? What's a couch?" Mush looked at Kris hoping that she would answer his question. 

"Oh, follow me." Kris walked out her room and turned to the left. "It's not mush… I mean, much… but its fine." Kris looked at him and smiled. _I can't be myself when Rachel's here! It'd be too weird! _

Four hours later, everybody was sleeping in their spots. The two girls were in Kris' room and sleeping on her bed. Usually on sleepovers, they would go to the living room and sleep on the floor, but Kris' floor didn't have carpets on it. Sleeping on the floor was hard. Mush, however, was sleeping on the couch in the living room. It would look weird if Mush was sleeping next to two girls… it wasn't his first time, however. 

Rachel was sleeping with her back turned to Kris. Kris however, was still awake. _I can't believe it… he's right out there and why can't I talk to him? Just get up and go! _But Kris stayed where she was. On the other hand, Mush was also awake. _What happened? She should be happy that I'm here! _

_I'm actually going to do this… I'm going to talk to him... _Kris stood up and walked over to the living room. It was pitch dark and she could hardly see anything. She had to put out her hands and see if she was going to hit anything. Kris finally saw his outline. He was sitting up, his hands on the back of his head and his eyes were closed. She slowly walked over to Mush and sat down on the couch. _It looks like he's asleep…this was a stupid idea. _Suddenly, Mush's eyes opened. 

"Hey," Kris smiled. "Long time no see." She looked at him and saw something hanging from his neck. "It's my ring!" Kris moved towards Mush and took the ring in her hands, the necklace still hanging from his neck. "You kept it all along!" Kris looked up at Mush and smiled. _Damn! He looks so good when he's shirtless! OoOoO…so hott!_

He looked at her with caring eyes and smiled. "I missed you so much." He held out his arms and hugged her. 

"Shh… you might wake Rach up…I missed you too," Kris whispered and hugged him back. They remained still for a few moments and fell asleep in each other's arms. 

Kris opened her eyes and checked to see if Mush was still there. _Thank God! He's still here! _Suddenly Kris noticed that something was different. She wasn't at her house. This wasn't her couch! She looked around saw that she was in a room filled with bunk beds. She realized that they weren't the only people there. There were people sleeping on the bunk beds… more like, boys. Kris looked to her left and saw a boy wearing an eye-patch. _Oh my Godness! Kris eyes widened. But before she could do anything, she heard someone scream. "KRIS!!!!!" _

Several boys woke up from the scream while the others stayed in their beds. They boy next to her wearing an eye-patch opened his eye, and looked at Kris. "Kris? Is that you?" 

Kris finally saw that she was sleeping in Mush's arms… in his bed! Kris leaned her head on Mush's shoulder and sighed. _Oh no… not again… _


	2. chapter two

Chapter Two 

"Kris!!!!!! We're not in your room!! Kris!!!" yelled Rachel as she looked around the room. She saw a group of boys standing over her. "Ooh hello there!" _Damn, he's cute! Ok, what was I saying earlier?_

Kris ran over to Rachel. "Rach, I can explain… well you see Mush is a…" _Oh no… I hate it when Rachel gets all boy-crazy. _Kris suddenly had a flashback of Emily. _Emily was like that too…boy-crazy… _

"Well explain all these cute guys," Rachel whispered to Kris. _Oh I like that one and ohh! Hey, these guys look familiar! _

"Kris? Is that you? You're back with Mush… In his arms…" said the boy with the eye-patch. 

"Blink! Hi… It's not what you think… um… you see…" Kris tried to explain. She turned around finding the rest of the newsies looking at her in amazement. "Hiya boys, long time no see. How's the track, Race?" She casually waved at Race who was looking very stunned seeing her there. 

"Kid Blink? Race? Kris… you're not telling me something… these guys look like the guys from…" Rachel tried to remember where they were from. Slowly, the room started to get blurry and her vision didn't become clear. 

"Rach… Rach… stop fooling around! You dork!" Kris said laughing. _She's doing it again. Always pretending she's hurt to get the guy's attention. _

"Uh... Kris... I don't think she's faking it." Jack came over and felt Rachel's forehead. "She's feeling a little hot…" 

Rachel's eyes rolled up and she went back to sleep. Her head fell on the pillows and she started snoring. All of the newsies had gathered around to see what had happened. Jack was crouching near Rachel, looking very concerned. Race was sitting on the edge of his bed still staring at Kris. Blink, however, was trying to wake up Mush. Right then, Kloppman came walking in the room, unaware of what happened. 

"Alright boys! Time to wake up… or it looks like you don't need waking up today. What's going on?" Kloppman walked around to see that almost all of the newsies were gathered around a single bunk, which had a girl. But that wasn't what caught his eye; it was a tall girl standing across the bed. "Kris? Is that you?" 

"I've been getting that a lot today… " Kris smiled and hugged Kloppman. "It's so great to finally see you again!" 

"Hey! How come I don't get a hug?" It was Race. "I can't believe my eyes… you're here!" Race walked over to Kris as they hugged each other. For a moment, everything was cheerful until Kris realized that her friend was lying in a bed, hot with fever. Kris let go of Race and looked at Rachel. 

"Kris… its glad to see you again, but who's she?" Blink walked up to her and pointed at Rachel. "Is she your friend?" 

But before Kris could say anything, she felt two arms come around her and wrap around her waist. "Hey." Mush smiled. _I'm so glad you're here… _He finally realized that everyone was awake, not only that, but Rachel didn't look very good. "What happened to Rachel?" 

"You know her?" Kid Blink eyed Mush suspiciously. "What happened last night?" 

The other newsies finally lost interest. They were either dressing up or walking to the bathroom. Mush, Blink, Jack, and Race stayed where they are. 

Kloppman walked over to Jack and whispered, "Can you take care of things here right now? I gotta go downstairs and take care of things." Jack nodded as Kloppman headed downstairs. 

"So Krissie… it's been a while… what brings you here?" Kris heard Crutchy come towards her. He looked the same, except for the big grin on his face. 

"Um… do you guys still believe that I'm from the future?" asked Kris. She looked at each newsie to see if they were listening to her. 

"Oh, so you're still sticking to that story?" Jack chuckled. 

"Um… I…" _Help me out here Mush! _

"She's telling the truth!" Mush shouted. "You see, I couldn't sleep yesterday night so I went outside and took a walk. Then, there was this building I never saw before so I decided to go inside. Before I knew it, I wasn't in New York anymore. So I asked her… Rachel… where I was and she took me to Kris' house. Then…" Mush looked at Kris. _Ah, I'll just skip that part… _"I woke up here!" 

"And that's what really happened!" Kris chirped in. 

"So her name's Rachel?" Blink asked. 

"Yah… she's been my friend since…" Kris suddenly stopped talking. _Why do you want to know if what Rach's name is? _She suddenly heard a loud banging and shouting from outside. Everyone ran towards the window to see what the commotion was all about. 

"It's Spot!" Jack shouted. He quickly ran downstairs to open the door for him. Boots, Specs, and Skittery ran down with Jack to see what was happening. 

"What's all the Brooklyn newsies doing here?" asked Race. "It looks like they're gonna have a parade or something… and they all look… dirtier than usual…" 

Kris looked outside and saw a group of angry boys standing behind Spot and Jack who seemed to be discussing something. Even though the newsies always looked dirty, there was something different. Their clothes were covered with ash and dust. 

"I wonder what happened… I'm going downstairs to see, any of you wanna come?" Crutchy asked. He was halfway through the room while Race and Blink went to catch up with Crutchy. 

"I'll stay here… I'll meet you guys later," said Mush. He turned towards Kris and looked at her eyes. _She looks so damn beautiful…just like I remember her… _Mush looked at Kris, as if asking for permission, he leaned to kiss her, but before he could reach her lips, Kris pulled away and sat down. "Don't start nothing here, Mush!" she laughed. 

"I'm not starting anything!" He chuckled, "It's just that I've always dreamt you'd be here… and you are!" 

"Sure she is! You blind or something?" Mush turned around to see a boy walking through the door, wearing plaid shirt, brown pants with suspenders, and holding what seemed to be a walking stick. He looked just like himself, except that he was covered with dirt. Half his face was smudged with ash. 

"Hey Spot! What happened? You look all dirty…" Mush walked over to Spot and shook his hand. 

"You got that right. Dirty. Somebody burned down our lodging house! Who would've think? There we were sleeping in our beds, when we suddenly smell fire. All we could do was run out the fire escape. Half the building was gone by then. Now we got no place to go!" shouted Spot. He looked angrier than ever. His face was firm and his eyes pierced through whatever he was looking. 

"Maybe some of your boys can stay here for a while 'till you find a place?" Jack answered. He was standing by the doorway right after Spot walked in. 

"That'd be great, Kelly! Just as long as your boys don't start anything!" 

_Geez! Who does he think he is?! Stupid, arrogant, dirty… _" 'Course they won't start anything? What'd you think we are?" Kris shouted. Mush and Jack looked taken aback with what Kris had just said. Nobody talked to Spot like that! 

"Well, what do we have here? A girl?" Spot walked towards where Kris was sitting. 

"Yah, I'm a girl. A girl with a name. Kris." _Gosh I hate it when people call me girl, I have a name you know! How'd you like it if I called you boy all the time? Oh well…its Spot I'll get over it…_She stood up, which was very interesting since Spot was shorter than Kris. 

"A TALL girl… wait, so you're Kris?" Spot's eyes widened. He took a step back and looked at her from head to toe. "You're that girl Mush keeps on talking about!" 

Mush ran towards Kris and stood in between Kris and Spot. "Sorry Spot, this here's Kris." 

"Well, it looks like I finally met the famous Kris! You're the one who sang and danced at Medda's party weren't you? That was great!" Spot smiled and looked at Kris. Mush looked at Kris. She looked very uncomfortable. She was looking down on the ground and was hiding behind Mush. Mush coughed and eyed Spot giving him a look saying _don't you dare…_

"So who's this?" Spot moved towards the bed where Rachel was sleeping. She was still sleeping soundly. 

"That's Rachel. Kris' friend," answered Jack. Kris looked at Spot who was carefully studying Rachel. "Look, we gotta sell papes today… you coming Mush? Kris? Spot?" 

Kris walked over to Jack and whispered, "But what about Rachel? I can't leave her alone! What if she wakes up?" 

"I'll stay here with her. I need to rest anyways…" Spot answered. 

_Sure, listen in on our conversation… _"But-" Jack nudged Kris to stop her from talking. 

"Sure, Spot. You're in charge of Rachel for today." 

"Are you sure about that?" Kris whispered even quieter so that Spot wouldn't hear her. _Spot better be a good boy…No touchy touchy! I'd kill you if you did anything to my friend… _

"Listen Kris, I know Spot when it comes to girls. He won't let anything happen to her, don't worry." Jack patted Kris on the shoulder. "Now let's sell some papes alrite?" Mush and Kris nodded. 

*** 

_Wow… she looks so beautiful… Sure, I've met a lot of girls, but she's different… I can feel it… _Spot was sitting on a different bunk bed, which was right next to Rachel's. He had finally cleaned up. There wasn't a bit of ash or dust on him. Spot looked at Rachel who was sleeping peacefully. Suddenly, her eyes started to move until it was open. She was finally wide-awake. She looked around the room and saw Spot. 

"Who are you?! Where's everybody? Where's Kris? KRIS!!!" Rachel shouted. She started panicking and looked like she was going to cry. 

Spot was alarmed and quickly ran over to her bed. He quickly put his hand over her mouth so she would stop screaming. "Stop! All of New York's gonna hear you! Don't worry about Kris… I… I'm Spot."


	3. chapter three

**Chapter Three **

"I really miss you, Kris. I'm so glad you're back," said Mush staring deeply into her brown eyes. They were standing outside, trying to sell their papes, but they seemed to be distracted. Kris turned around and looked at Mush. She seemed to be at a lost for words. _Come on, Kris… you're finally here! Say something!_

But before she could say anything, Race quickly walked past and mumbled, "He sure did miss you! Missed you so much he almost cried!" Race chuckled and continued shouting headlines. "Dangerous flood kills thousands!" 

"I'll kill him… you're gonna get soaked later…" muttered Mush as his face turned into a slight color of red. 

Kris looked at Mush and giggled, "You cried?" 

Mush looked at the ground and nodded his head. He quickly snapped his head back up and retorted, "It was just cause…" 

Kris smiled, "Nah, its alrite. I did too when I thought you were gone." 

*** 

"When I let go, you better not scream. You hear me?" Spot looked at Rachel. Her eyes kept on darting back and forth looking for Kris. _If she screams, all of Manhattan will probably hear! _Rachel slowly nodded as Spot took his hand away from her mouth. 

"KRIS! KR—" but before Rachel could finish, Spot put his hand over her mouth again much more quickly and strongly causing Rachel to fall back on the bed with Spot on top of her, still covering her mouth. They were only inches away from each other. 

"I told you not to scream!" Spot said calmly. He stared at her deep green eyes. _I've never seen anybody with that kind of eyes before… _

"Gerroff me!" muffled Rachel through Spot's hand. She quickly pushed him off the bed and started panicking, causing her to pace back and forth around the room. She turned to look at Spot who was getting up from his feet. "Where's Kris?! Where's… that boy with the curly hair…" 

Rachel drew a blank, and then she suddenly remembered who it was. "Mush!" she shouted. But she wasn't the only one who shouted, Spot had said it the same time she did too. Rachel slightly blushed and looked down at her shoes. _What just happened? I don't like him! Spot, however, was staring at Rachel. _

Rachel sighed, "Yeah… um… Spot, right?" 

Spot quickly smiled and proudly said, "That's me. Spot Conlon. Leader of the Brooklyn Newsies and most respected newsie out of all of New York." 

_Right… whatever. You sound like an infomercial for all I care. _Then something suddenly clicked in Rachel's head. She knew where she was… especially why everyone looked so familiar. "Newsies! That's it! You're the newsies!" She said to herself. She scrunched up her face and said, "But how'd we get to 1899?" 

Rachel thought she was talking to herself until she saw Spot walking towards her with a confused look at his face. "Newsies… that's us…" _She's one odd girl, that's for sure… but those eyes…_

Rachel started walking towards the closest door she could find and headed towards it. _I gotta talk to Kris… how did we get here? How can she NOT tell me about this? WOULD SPOT STOP STARING AT ME? He's starting to freak me out. _

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Spot. He quickly ran after her and grabbed her hand. 

She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks from Spot's strong grip on her hand. Spot was very strong for a guy who didn't look as muscular. "I'm gonna go look for Kris and Mush!" 

Spot shook his head and chuckled, "Oh no you're not! Not through that door. And uh… you better change your clothes… I don't think it'd be safe for you to be walking around like that." 

Rachel looked down at her clothes and realized she was still wearing her spaghetti strap that she used to sleep in and blue shorts. "Oh…" she said sheepishly. _Geez... Someone's very demanding…? _

"The door you were about to walk through leads to the bathroom. And I think there's some girl's clothes in there... or so Jackie-boy told me." Spot smiled and dug his hands into his pockets. "I'll wait for you here." 

"Oh my bad," Rachel said blushing. 

Spot chuckled and looked back into her eyes, "Yup. Do you normally walk through the boys' bathroom where you come from?" 

Rachel turned away and headed for the bathroom. "As a matter of fact… I do... you got a problem with that?" she mumbled to herself. _He's staring at me again! Argh.. _

It was a hot New York day and the sun was streaming everywhere. The road seemed to be much more busy than usual; people were walking in and out of shops, ladies were walking back and forth to do their chores, the road would be occasionally full with carriages, and the voices of newsies shouting headlines could be heard. Rachel stepped outside wearing a white blouse and a green colored skirt that ended right below her knees. She quickly blended in with the rest of 1899. 

Spot turned around and saw he was walking by himself. He looked at Rachel with concern and said, "Hey, what's wrong?" 

"Nothing… it's just that… New York looks so different. Way different from 2004!" Rachel stopped frozen to the where she stood looking around New York. 

Spot ran over to her and held her hand. "Don't want you getting lost do we?" he winked. With that, they started walking as Spot said, "Don't worry about it. It ain't so bad! Come on, let's go look for Mush and Kris." 

Rachel kept trying to pull her hand away from Spot but he was persistent and kept a strong hold on Rachel. _God, my hand is hurting! He's pretty strong. And what's with him always grabbing my hand? _"Um… Spot?" Spot turned around and looked at Rachel. "Can you let go? You're hurting me…" 

"Oh sorry. I didn't realize I was doing that..." Spot said blushing. Eventually, he let go of Rachel's hand and started walking. He was walking very quickly that Rachel had a hard time keeping up. 

*** 

There was a moment of silence between Mush and Kris until they separated from each other and started to sell papes and shout headlines. After an hour or so, they were both done selling papes. They started to walk towards Tibby's, side-by-side. 

"Kris, um... what have you been doing over the months? You haven't changed much." 

"Oh... Me? Well I didn't do much. Just school, my life is the same as usual." Kris said trying not to make eye contact with Mush since she knew she might melt right into it. _I mustn't look into his eyes… _

"Oh. Well, Rachel seems pretty nice. And it looks like Spot really likes her." Mush said laughing. "I have never seen Spot look at a girl like that." 

"Haha yah... won't Rach be happy? She's very boy-crazy," said Kris laughing too. _Yah..boy-crazy, just like Emily. Kris sighed at the flash of memory of her now deceased friend. _

*** 

Spot and Rachel were walking from various selling spots and corners of Manhattan. Spot had no idea where Mush's selling place was located, Manhattan's a very big place. Even though Spot has been to Manhattan a lot of times, he had never bothered to ask where the newsies' selling spot would be. 

"Spot? Can we please stop? I'm tired. Please?" pleaded Rachel. "We went to Central Park, Bottle Alley, and the harbor already!" Rachel looked at Spot and pleaded. The weather didn't help much causing them to sweat profusely. Not only that, but since Spot walked much faster and quicker than Rachel, Rachel had to run once in a while just to keep up with Spot. _Geez! The last time I've been this tired was when we ran the mile at school! _

"You wanted to find Mush and Kris didn't you? Here I am helping you, so don't complain!" said Spot. _I'm doing this for her… can't she see that? Picky, picky, picky…_

"We can keep on going unless you wanna carry me…" teased Rachel. _Dumbass… but who cares? At least I can rest if he carries me!_

"Alright! Alright!" Spot threw his hands in the air in defeat. He led her towards a bench, sitting near a bunch of clustered trees. Across the bench was a small tiny pond. A few minutes later, Rachel was better rested and Spot was calmer. They eventually got up and started their search for Mush and Kris again. They were quietly looking for them until a tall boy with dark black hair, tanned skin, and hazel eyes started walking towards Spot and Rachel. Spot seemed to know him since he stopped and spit-shook with the tall boy. 

"Hey there, Spot. What you doing here at this part of Manhattan?" 

Spot glanced at Rachel then turned his attention towards the boy. "Hey, Kyle. I'm just helping a friend out. You seen Mush around?" 

"Cowboy told me to look for you… so here you are! Anyways, he told me to meet him and the other newsies at Tibby's." 

"Oh, alright. That works. So, Kyle… enjoying Manhattan?" 

Spot expected Kyle to say "fine", "it's alright", or maybe even "Brooklyn's better" but Kyle said something else. "Hey who's that? She your…" he said as he started walking towards Rachel. 

But before Kyle could reach Rachel, Spot firmly planted himself between them and firmly said, "No." Kyle finally understood what Spot meant and started backing away. 

Rachel had no idea what was going on. _Hey! Yo dumbass… I can take care of myself… weird sounds like they're talking in code! _She finally got up the courage to smile at Kyle and meekly say, "Hi." But all Kyle did was wave, in fear that Spot might burst in anger if he talked to her. The trio ended up walking to Tibby's together. Spot remained in between Kyle and Rachel as they walked. He kept on talking to Kyle, but at the same time, held Rachel's hand… only much less firmer than he did before. 

"Remember Kyle, don't start any fight with the Manhattan newsies. You got that?" Spot eyed Kyle as they neared towards Tibby's. _He better not do anything, everything's fine the way it is. _

Kyle chuckled, "Don't worry Spot. I won't do anything." Kyle opened the door to Tibby's finding it full of newsies. Not only Manhattan newsies, but Brooklyn newsies. But through all the commotion, his eye found Kris. She was sitting next to Mush, looking very happy. Although Kyle didn't notice Mush, he certainly noticed Kris. _Wow… I've never seen her before. She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…_ But Kyle did nothing and walked over to the other Brooklyn newsies, glancing at Kris from time to time. 

"There you are!!!" shouted Kris. She ran over to Rachel and gave her a hug. "Hey, you're all sweaty and icky… what happened?" Kris pulled away and looked at Rachel. _I knew I shouldn't have left her with Spot!_

Rachel realized she was still holding Spot's hand. She pulled her hand away from Spot but Spot wouldn't let go. Rachel turned to Spot and whispered, "Spot, let go!" 

"Er… sorry." Spot realized that he was still holding Rachel's hand and let go to join the newsies for lunch. 

Rachel sighed. "Just get me to a chair and gimme food… then I'll tell you what happened." 

The two girls walked towards the table where Mush and Kris were previously sitting, while Jack walked over to Spot and started talking to him. Once Rachel was seated, she began eating as much as she can. 

"Wow… I've never seen anybody eat like that since Emily was here…" Blink said. 

Kris raised an eyebrow towards Mush and looked at him. _He's taking this pretty casually… we don't just suddenly talk about Emily! _Mush shrugged his shoulders and acted as if he didn't know what was going on. 

While Rachel was actively eating, Kris stood up and walked over to the bar to get some more drinks. Cautiously, Kyle walked over to the bar with his back turned to Mush and Spot. He stood next to Kris, making sure to distance himself. 

"Hey... you're Rachel right? Spot's girl?" Kyle said looking at Kris. 

Kris chuckled. They looked so alike that they could be mistaken for sisters. "Nope, I'm Kris. That's Rachel." Kris said pointed at Rachel who was now listening to the other newsies' conversation. "It's alrite though. Most people get us mixed up. You can tell who's who since Rachel has green eyes." Kris took the drinks she ordered and started walking back towards the table, until she realized what Kyle had just said. 

She quickly turned around, causing her to almost trip, but Kyle broke her fall. He caught her gently in his arms. Kris suddenly felt awkward and stood up quickly. "Thanks. But um… did you just say Spot's girl?" 

Kyle shrugged. "I guess so. Spot seemed to have a hold on her when I saw them looking for Mush." 

"Oh." _That Spot's causing enough trouble already! "Thanks anyway…" she started walking back to their table, but knowing all that time, she was being watched by Kyle. _


	4. chapter four

**Chapter Four **

"So who were you talking to back there?" asked Mush. _He doesn't look like someone I know, so I bet he's one of Spot's Brooklyn newsies. He better not take her away from me!_ They were walking towards Brooklyn. Since it had been a hot and sunny afternoon, Spot invited everyone to go for a swim at the river. A couple of newsies joined, both from Manhattan and Brooklyn. Kris was walking in between Mush and Rachel. She had felt that she should stay near Rachel from now on. Spot, however, was leading the group towards the river. 

"Oh… um…" Kris looked at Mush and slightly blushed. "He thought I was Rachel, but I didn't catch his name." She looked at Rachel who was listening intently. 

"He thought I was you?!" Rachel said as she started to laugh. "That's probably the hundredth time people have been saying that! So what'd he want with me?" 

Mush looked at Kris and Rachel. He finally noticed their similarity. _Wow! They look like sisters! _But his mind quickly snapped back to his previous thought. _What did he want with her?_

"I… don't know. He just asked me if I was Rachel, and I walked away afterwards." _I'm not about to tell her about the part of being Spot's girl! And anyways, Mush is here… I'll save that later for girl talk… _

"That's weird," exclaimed Mush. "I wonder what he wanted…" 

"Yah," Rachel nodded. "It's not everyday they ask Kris if she were Rachel and just walk away." 

Kris remained quiet for the rest of the walk. She began to think of that tall boy. _What DID he want? I hope Rachel doesn't get hurt again. And Mush is acting all weird… he's not telling me something. Sure, its great to be back here with him, but there's something different. All we've done is say "I miss you"… _

"Kris? Hello?" Mush was looking at Kris with concern. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that they were already at the river. Half of the newsies were already taking off their shirts and jumping into the cold water with their shorts. 

Kris jumped and looked at Mush. His eyes were darting back and forth, studying here face. "I'm fine… it's just that you're so hot…I mean IT'S so hot." Kris blushed from what she had just said. 

"Yah!" chirped in Rachel. "But we don't have anything to swim in!" 

"You think we come here unprepared?" Rachel suddenly heard a familiar voice. She turned around and it was Spot, holding a bunch of clothes. "I stopped by the lodging house before we came here. I got some shirts and shorts that should fit both of you." He handed the clothes to Rachel. 

"Oh thanks Spot. How kind of you to bring these," said Rachel. _Maybe he isn't so bad after all…_ She then turned her attention to the newsies swimming around in the water. _Whoohoo! Guys in water! Spot and Mush better leave soon so I can change and jump in! _She looked at Kris who seemed to be staring at something out in the water. Rachel looked out in the water and couldn't understand what Kris was looking at. Rachel nudged Kris, causing her to jump. "Come on, let's go change over there." Rachel pointed towards a corner filled with bushes. 

"Hey girls! Where you going?" Spot said so fast that Mush jumped. 

"To get changed! Do you want us to change in front of you?" Rachel said. _They're so stupid… _"Don't answer that…" _Haha, they probably do… _Rachel and Kris walked over behind some bushes. "Hey Kris, who were you looking at?" 

"Oh just nothing. Just that guy over there. He was the one asking about you." She pointed to Kyle who was doing back flips and cannonballs into the river. 

"Him? Kyle? Spot and me met up with him earlier. I guess he's ok… why? You like him or something?" _But isn't she already with Mush?_

"What?! No way! I just think he's kinda… attractive, that's all. But I'd pick Mush over any guy any day." 

When both girls were finally done dressing up, they walked over to the bridge over looking the water. It seemed like all the boys were having fun swimming. Kyle was still doing back flips and jumps into the river while Spot was sitting quietly on a barrel watching everyone take a dip. Kris looked over to the Manhattan newsies and saw Race and Blink splash each other with water. Jack and Mush, however, were expertly swimming. They seemed to be racing each other. 

"Jump in on 3?" Rachel asked while Kris nodded. "1… 2… 3!!!" Both girls jumped into the water and quickly rose up from underwater. Suddenly, Kris felt two arms circle around her waist and grab her. "What-" She turned around quickly and saw Mush with a big grin on his face. "I found you!" he shouted and poked her on the nose with his finger. Kris giggled happily. _I guess I was wrong! He's the same Mush that I've always known…Yeah, everything's alright…_

"Come on, let's go over to Rachel," Mush and Kris waded over towards Rachel who was looking around the river. 

"Who you looking for?" Mush asked. 

"Geez! I thought I lost you guys!" Rachel exclaimed. 

Kris smiled, "It was only for a while!" 

"Let's go over there, I'll introduce you to the boys," Mush pointed towards Race, Blink, Jack, and David. They swam towards the spot that he pointed to and waited until Race was done with his last flip into the water. Rachel watched Race jump into the water with awe. _That's so cool! _As soon as Race's head popped up from underwater, Mush began introducing them. "Right, well that's Race, Blink, Jack, and David." He pointed at each one of them as he said their names. 

"Rachel, right?" asked Jack. Rachel nodded as Jack took her hand and kissed it. Rachel slightly blushed while Kris giggled. "He did the same thing to me the first time I met him!" 

"So you're Kris' friend?" asked David. 

"Yeah, I met her a few months ago. I was new in town, so she showed me around." 

"Aw, ain't she sweet?" said Race as he playfully tousled Kris' hair. 

"Yeah… she sure is…" said Mush. He was standing right next to Kris and looked at her. "We're gonna go… swim… around. Yeah… we'll be back." Mush said, as he led Kris away from his friends, still keeping his eyes on her. 

Blink and Jack laughed as Mush and Kris swam away. "Haha, 'course they're gonna swim! Mush can be so stupid sometimes…" Blink said in between his laughs. Rachel looked at the newsies, unsure of what to do. Kris left her alone again. _Where's Race? I want him to show me that flip thing… She looked around and saw Race laughing with the other newsies. _

Jack, Blink, and the other newsies left to explore around the river while Rachel decided to swim to the shore and try to look out for Kris. All of the sudden, she felt someone grabbing her foot. She giggled and turned around. Race's head popped out of the water next to her. "Oh my goodness! You scared me!" 

"Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. So how do you like New York?" Race asked while trying to stay afloat. 

"New York? In 1899?" Rachel asked laughing. Race nodded. 

Rachel answered, "It's great so far!" _Yah! Because of all the hot guys around! Whoo hoo! _While Rachel was reflecting on her thoughts, Race moved back and splashed Rachel with handfuls of water. Rachel giggled trying to find Race. 

Near the shore, Spot saw Race and Rachel having fun. _What are they doing? I know Race wouldn't try to take my girl away. _He decided to stop thinking about Rachel and have some fun. _This girl ain't my life. And anyway, there'll be plenty of other girls around. _But even though Spot knew this, he felt something different about Rachel. She had something that the other girls, in Brooklyn, didn't have. Spot shook his head and jumped into the river swimming after Jack to find out what they were looking at. 

A few minutes later, Race was trying to show Rachel how to do the back flip into the water. "Here… just do this…" Race was about to jump in when he saw Rachel was shivering. "You're shivering… let's go to the shore…" He grabbed a towel that was lying nearby and put it around Rachel. "You wanna stay here for a while?" Race asked Rachel who nodded and sat shivering even though she was wearing a towel. Race put his arms around Rachel to keep her warm. 

"Race, you're cold too. Here you can have part of the towel too." Rachel said extending one part of the towel towards Race. Race sat behind Rachel so the towel covered them both. There was a moment of silence between both of them. Rachel looked around the river, trying to think of what to say. 

"Hey Race? You look like my friend's brother… Richie." Said Rachel laughing. _Hmm… that's something! _

"Why? 'Cause we're both cute and adorable?" Race smirked and looked at Rachel. 

"No! It's because you both have big eyes." Rachel said trying hard not to laugh. There was another moment of silence until Rachel thought of something. "Hey! Do you want to play a game? My cousin and I used to played this a lot." 

"Sure, why not? Does it involve money?" said Race hopefully. _I really need the money now._

"No… but I wish it did! I'm not exactly rich! Well this is what we have to do. We look at each other's eyes and the first one to move or look at something else loses. Okay? Does that sound easy?" said Rachel. _He has nice eyes... _

"Sure! Sounds easy enough." said Race. Rachel turned around so that she was facing Race. They both stared into each other's eyes. 

"Hey Rachel? I didn't know you had green eyes!" Race exclaimed without moving his eyes. 

At the same time, a couple of Brooklyn newsies were swimming near the shore that Race and Rachel were at. They saw what was happening and swam to Spot. "Spot! Brooklyn! You got to see this! Hurry!" 

"What do you guys want?" Spot said turning around to follow them. 

"We saw Race and Rachel together and since…" Before they can finish, Spot was gone. "Whoa… I never seen Brooklyn swim that fast in my life!" exclaimed one of the Brooklyn newsies. Jack and Blink looked at each other and swam after Spot hoping he doesn't get into a fight. But when Spot got there, all he saw was Rachel lying on the shore closing her eyes. 

*** 

"Mush… where are we going?" exclaimed Kris, who was trying her best to keep up with Mush. _I can swim, but I can't swim THAT fast! _"Can't we at least stop for a while?" _Argh! I sound like a baby! _

"Don't worry! We're almost there!" Mush stopped swimming and pointed towards a patch of green near the shore. "You see that? It's the only part in this river that's actually got some green in it." Kris saw what Mush was pointing at and awe filled her eyes. Even though it seemed out of place, it looked beautiful. There was a tree bending over to give shade. There were various flowers scattered around near the tree. She made up her mind and figured it was worth swimming for. After a few minutes, Mush and Kris finally reached their destination. 

"Wow… how'd you find this spot?" asked Kris, sitting beneath the tree. 

"I... um… had a lot of time on my hands and I decided to go swimming. I wasn't expecting to see it though. You'd think this place would be full of buildings and bridges," answered Mush, as he sat next to Kris. _Finally! We're alone! Nobody to bother us! Just like what Race did… he's gonna get soaked later…_

Kris plucked a flower off from the ground and started twirling it around her fingers. "So how you been doing Mush? You know… since I've been gone…" she looked up at Mush with careful eyes. _I don't wanna seem too nosy… that's not good! _

Mush looked at Kris then stared out into the river. "Things have been… different. But we're still the same… the newsies, I mean. We're still out every morning selling papes." 

_Yeah, right. I bet you something went on… _"Oh… I see. Hey! Guess what?" _Ooh I know what to talk about! Kris straightened up and smiled at Mush. _

"What? That pigs are flying?" joked Mush. 

"No!" she exclaimed and playfully slapped Mush on the shoulder. "I can finally sing in front of audiences! I mean, not like the last time at Medda's… but I'm working on it!" Kris beamed with pride. 

"See? I told you!" Mush smiled. "And while we're talking about singing, why don't you do a bit for me? It's been a while since I've heard your voice." 

Kris blushed and looked at the flower again. "Nah… it's useless without music!" 

"Oh, come on!" pleaded Mush. "You've done it before! Remember that night when…" Mush trailed off. 

Kris sighed and made up her mind. "Alright… fine. You're just as annoying as Rachel. Gimme some time to figure out what to sing…" 

"Sure, take all the time you want." 

Kris laughed jokingly, "Even though it takes all day?" 

Mush chuckled and said, "I'm sure you'll figure something out. I'm sure if Blink can be himself, you can come up with a song!" 

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. Kris hasn't talked about Emiliy's death ever since that day she woke up in her room and figured everything out. Her face was full of worry and her eyes with concern. "Blink's not himself? What's wrong? He's not hurt is he? 'Cause he seemed fine to me when I -" 

"Kris! He's fine! I'm sorry I dumped it on you like that. It's just that a few days since Emily was… gone… Blink didn't wanna talk to anybody. Even me!" exclaimed Mush as he ruffled his hair. 

"He wouldn't talk to YOU?" Kris said in disbelief. _Well, sure they didn't the last time I was here… but hey, they're best friends! Who'd he turn to?_ "So what happened?" she asked eagerly. 

"He was with a different girl on dates almost every night. After a while, he's got all of us worried. He'd be with a girl at night, and then he'd ignore her if he saw her again. Why'd you think he'd do that? Jack was almost ready to chain him to his bed and make him talk." said Mush. 

"Oh my goodness…" _Sure, I dealt with Emily's death… but I guess I never loved her the way that Blink did. It just changes everything. _"Well… I guess he didn't want to get hurt… before it got too late…" said Kris. _That sounds familiar… oh, geez. Emily said that. _

Mush nodded. "I guess so. But now, he's fine. I guess he just figured that not talking and taking out a different girl every night just isn't right. It probably just hit him." 

Kris chuckled. _Yah… like when I realized I wasn't in 1899 anymore. _ Kris looked on the flower she was holding and continued to twirl it, unaware of what to say. Suddenly, a warm breeze passed by them. Kris shivered and quickly hugged Mush. "COLD!" she whispered. Mush hugged her back and wrapped his arms around her. He looked down at Kris and chuckled. The air wasn't that cold. He smiled and said, "Yeah… I hate it when that happens. Especially when you just got out of the water." _Actually when you're around I don't hate it as much…_Mush pulled Kris closer to him. 

Kris did a mini-dance in her head. _Whee!!! I couldn't help it! _Kris laughed and looked up at Mush. "I wish I could stay here forever. I'm happy here. There's you. Rachel. Blink. Race. Jack. You guys are practically my family. I'd hate it if I wake up and see that I'm in my room again." _I never wanna leave you… _

Mush was listening intently the whole time and remained hugging her. "Shhh… stop talking. You're starting to shiver." He took the flower she was holding and tucked it on her right ear. "Everything's fine… don't worry…" Their eyes met and they stayed still for a moment. He leaned down to meet her lips, and as they kissed, he made sure she was feeling his warmth. 

_My goodness! And I thought my ex-boyfriend was good! 'Course it was a kiss… or two… or… _Kris had a huge grin on her face and she seemed happier than ever. "Argh, the bad part about this is that we have to swim all the way back!" exclaimed Kris who was already knee-length in water. 

"I know its not the greatest way, but I couldn't find any other way back. And if we walk, it'll probably take longer. That's no problem right?" asked Mush who was standing next to Kris, ready to plunge into the water. 

"ME? I'm fine! I don't exercise for nothing!" joked Kris. 

Mush laughed as they both started swimming towards the spot where the newsies were. After a few minutes, they were almost there. They can already make out the newsies playing in the water. Right when Kris thought they were about to reach shore, a tight pain came towards her lower right leg. _What the hell?_ She tried to move her leg, but it didn't move. "Mush!" she screamed, right before her leg lost its power and began to bring her down the river. 

"We're almost there… Kris?" he turned around to see her head slowly decreasing in the water. He quickly grabbed her and pulled her up from the water. She gasped for air as she came up and put her arms around his shoulders. "Leg… cramp…" Kris exclaimed. Mush nodded and swam towards the shore where he saw Rachel and Spot, carrying Kris with him. When he could finally feel the ground beneath his feet, he pulled up Kris and carried her right next to where Rachel was sitting. 

"Kris? What happened? Did something bite you?" asked Rachel who jumped up from her seat and rushed towards Mush, who was carrying Kris. 

Kris laughed, "Yeah… a shark bit me. Psh, Rachel… you come up with the strangest ideas. All I got was a leg cramp from all the swimming. Mush… you can put me down now…" _Um… yeah, this is getting weird…_

"But I don't wanna!" answered Mush. He laughed and set her down next to Rachel. 

"I'll be right back… gonna go get a towel…" he turned around and walked way. 

Rachel eyed Kris and poked her playfully on the shoulder. "Whaaatt?" asked Kris. 

"Don't "Whaaattt?" Me! Isn't it funny that he always ends up carrying you?" Rachel had a big smile on her face. _Finally! Something to tease her about! _

Kris looked at Rachel. "Oh no… I know that look! You're gonna endlessly tease me!" 

Rachel chuckled. "For once you're wrong! Or at least I'm not gonna tease you RIGHT NOW. I've been shivering here since I came up the water." 

"Tell me about it," Kris mumbled and smiled to herself. 

"So… I'm gonna go change. I feel weird in these clothes. You don't mind right? Or do you need me to look after you like big strong Mush did?" joked Rachel. They both laughed at each other. 

"I'll be fine! Just come back… QUICKLY!" she yelled as Rachel headed towards the bushes where they changed earlier. Kris sprawled out her legs so that it was in front of her. She looked at her right leg and tried to figure out what was wrong. _It looks normal so far… I hate cramps... _

"Need some company? 

Kris turned around to see a familiar face, the boy asking about Rachel. "I told you… I'm Kris. Not Rachel." 

"Rachel was the one who just left right?" he asked. 

Kris nodded. _Why do I feel like he was watching me? _"Yeah… hey, what's your name? You didn't really introduce yourself when…" 

"I'm Kyle," he smiled and extended his hand. "Brooklyn newsie." 

She shook his hand and said, "Oh… Brooklyn. No wonder I've never seen you before." 

"Yeah…" Kyle nodded and looked at Kris. "Looks like there's something wrong with your leg…" he pointed towards her right leg. 

"I have a cramp from swimming… Hey! How'd you know that?" Kris said in shock. 

Kyle shrugged, "I saw Mush carry you on to shore, and your leg looked kinda limped from where I was standing." 

"Oh. I was about to think you had magical powers or something." Answered Kris. 

Kyle laughed, "I wish. But I do know how to make it feel better. You don't mind?" He eyed her curiously and looked for her permission. 

Kris shrugged, "Get my leg working again." 

He walked over to her other side so that he would be facing her. He took her leg in his hands and slowly picked up her leg and bending it. "That's better, right?" 

"Wow! That actually works! How'd you learn how to do that?" 

"I've swum a lot… so I guess you can look at it that way." He suddenly stopped bending her leg and started staring at something behind Kris. 

"Whatcha looking at?" Kris turned around to see Mush looking at Kyle… and his hands. "Oh." 

"I guess I'd better go…" said Kyle meekly. He let go of Kris' leg and started getting up. 

"NO, no… stay… sorry about that. It's just I haven't seen you before," answered Mush who still had a worried look on his face. He sat next to Kris and put his arm around her while Kyle sat down on the other side of Kris. Kris could feel the tension between them. 

"Um… Mush, this is Kyle. He's a Brooklyn newsie…" _I'll tell him about him asking about Rachel later…_

"Well, hi." He extended his hand. They shook hands and as they did, Kris was sure that she saw their muscles tighten. 

"Alrite… well… I'm gonna go change…" said Kris with uncertainty. _I don't really wanna stay here… _"Rachel's waiting for me, anyway." 

"You sure you can walk?" said Mush. 

"I'll be fine. I'll be back in five minutes." And with that, Kris walked away. 

There was a bit of silence between the boys for a while until Kyle said, "She's something isn't she?" 

"What?" Mush quickly turned his attention to Kyle who had a big grin on his face. 

"She's not like the girls around here… I mean, you know… in a good way," continued Kyle. 

"Hey. You better stay away from her, aight? She's my girl!" said Mush angrily as he shoved his face into Kyle's. Both boys were standing up facing each other. 

"Oh really? Did you ask her to be your girl, then?" Kyle eyed Mush. 

"Um… no. But I will!" Mush's face soften as he realized what just happened. _Stupid! Stupid! I should've said yes! _

"Right. That's what I thought," said Kyle as he grinned and walked away. 

~*~

Rachel finished changing and walked to Mush. "Hey Mush! Do you know where Kris is?" Mush turned to look at Rachel's face and walked away. "Oh.. k.. thanks! What the hell is his problem?" 

Rachel stood in front of the shore looking for Kris in the water. All of the sudden she felt someone grab her hand. "Race!" Rachel said turning around 

"Race?" Spot said. _Race? Why'd she call me Race? _

"Oh Spot! Sorry I thought you were Race… my bad." Rachel said looking to the ground. _Stupid stupid stupid! Oh well it's just Spot.. _

"Come on! Everyone is going back now." Spot said trying to pull Rachel away. 

"Hold on! I'm looking for Kris!" said Rachel trying to pull her hand away from Spot. Spot let go and left Rachel alone standing on the shore. All of a sudden, two arms hugged her waist. She turned around and found it was Race hugging her. _Whew! Okay this time it's Race. _

"What are you doing standing here? Thinking about what's his name.. Richie?" said Race laughing 

"No… he's got a girlfriend!" Rachel said laughing back. "I'm looking for Kris!" She turned around facing Race. 

"Kris? She's already with the rest of the group." Race said looking into Rachel's eyes. Rachel blinked. "I win! Rachel... you're so bad at your own game." He turned laughing and ran towards the group. 

"Hey! I didn't know we were playing! Race!" Rachel said shocked running to the other Newsies. 

During the walk back to town, Rachel stood by Kris and Race. Kris and Mush were having their moment and Rachel didn't want to disturb them. She turned to Kris and whispered, "Ask Mush if he wants to carry you!!" Before Kris could say anything, Rachel ran to the first of the crowd laughing. Spot tripped over a rock as soon as Rachel turned around. 

"Weren't you in the back with Kris and Mush?" Jack asked laughing at Spot. 

"Yah.. but…" Rachel said trying to help Spot up. "BUT KRIS AND MUSH WANTED THEIR LITTLE MOMENT!" She yelled to make sure Kris could hear. Afterwards she yelled back, "KRIS I'M JUST KIDDING AROUND! RELAX!" Jack, Spot, Race, and Blink were laughing. 

Rachel stayed in the front with Jack, Spot, Race, and Blink so Kris wouldn't kill her. All the newsies walked into Tibby's laughing at Blink's jokes. Rachel sat by Kris hoping Kris won't try to kill her. Mush came over to the table and sat down staring at his food. 

"I'm starving! Aren't you guys?!?! This looks good." Mush said. Kris kept staring at Rachel as if trying to say something to her. 

"Kris, what? Do I got something on my face?" Rachel said laughing. She finally understood on what Kris is trying to say, got up and went to sit with the rest of the newsies. A few hours later, everybody was cheerful and full of food. They all walked balk to the Lodging House, with Rachel still teasing Kris and Mush. Kris ended up chasing after Rachel the whole time. Spot grew worried and started running towards them. 

Race laughed and shouted, "See Spot Run!" 

Mush shook his head, "See how THEY'RE running! I've never seen girls run that fast before!" 

Later that night, the Lodging House was fuller than usual. The Brooklyn Newsies tried their best to get along with the other Manhattan Newsies. 

"So where are we supposed to sleep?" asked Rachel. "On the floor?" 

"Course not! You know those two beds that Kloppman set up for you and Emily the last time you were here? It's still up." Race pointed towards the end of the long row of bunk beds to see two unused white beds. 

Kris ran towards the bunk beds and jumped on the lower bunk bed. "I GET THIS ONE! The… you know how there's an upper bunk bed? The… lower bunk bed!" Kris shouted as she jumped on the bed. 

Race, Rachel, Spot, and Mush started laughing and giggling wildly at Kris while they walked over to their new bunk beds. "What? Were you gonna say the non-upper bunk bed?!" Rachel exclaimed as she started laughing at Kris again. 

Kris started to giggle as Mush sat next to her, "I couldn't remember what it was!" 

~*~ 

Rachel was looking up at the stars as she thought of the events that happened today. She remembered how Spot held her hand so tightly compared to how Race softly hugged her. _They're both so…_ Her thoughts whirled around her as she felt a gust of wind run across her face. 

"What you doing up here?" She heard a familiar voice and turned around. 

"Hey Race! Nothing… just… thinking. Kris is already asleep… she was pretty wiped out after all that laughing." Rachel answered. 

"Haha yah. She was… really… REALLY… happy." He paused for a moment and looked at her. "And Mush too. You'd think he was in heaven." 

Rachel chuckled, "He probably is! I mean, Kris is here… what more could he want?" 

Race nodded and looked at her thoughtfully. "So how'd you find this place? Were you exploring or something?" 

Rachel threw up her hands in the air like an act of defeat. "You caught me! It's not like I can talk to Kris… she's actually sleeping for once. And I don't feel like playing poker." Rachel shrugged. "There are just so many things that happened today that I needed to think about it. 

"Oh... like what things?" Race asked looking for a place to sit. He looked at the sky and saw a shooting star. He closed his eyes and made a wish. 

"Lots of things. I just came and already I feel comfortable. Spot and you and all the other newsies make me feel so comfortable and relaxed." Rachel said as she sat on the ground. She turned to look at Race. "Race… what are you doing?" 

"Making a wish… I come up here to think." He smiled and looked at Rachel. "This is the first time I saw a shooting star." Race turned around and sat next to Rachel. 

"What did you wish for? Money?" Rachel said laughing. "If you wished for money wanna split 60/40?" 

"You wish! You'll just see if my wish comes true." Race said getting up. "Let's go sleep before the rest of the newsies take a good sleeping spot." 

~*~ 

Rachel couldn't sleep. All she can think of is Spot and Race. Rachel sat up on her bunk bed and looked down on the sleeping newsies. The newsies all over the ground looked like sleeping like babies. She started to laugh when she saw that Boot's foot was on Spec's stomach. Then, she saw Crutchy muttering something and Mush smiling in his sleep. She got down from the bunk bed, trying her best not to step on any newsies. She found an empty space and right when she placed her foot in the area, Jack turned in his sleep and Rachel stepped on his hand. But all Jack did was pull away his hand and mutter, "What's the matta with you? You're mad." 

She walked towards the same place she was before. She was finally on the rooftop. She closed her eyes and looked at the sky. _This is weird. Back in the future, no guys liked me at all. They thought I was a freak with green eyes. Then all of the sudden I have two guys liking me. They do like me… right? Spot holding my hand and Race hugging me? _Suddenly, she felt a blanket go around her shoulders. She turned around and saw Spot walking away. "Thanks Spot. Where you going?" 

Spot turned around. "Back inside. I saw you walk out to the roof and thought you would be cold." 

"You don't have to go. Spot!" said Rachel hoping that she could get to talk to him. Spot turned around and looked at the floor. "Spot... Thanks for taking care for me this morning. Kris told me." 

"It's nothing. Mush wanted Kris to go sell papes with him so I said I'll watch out for you." Spot turned and started walking down the stairs. 

"Spot! Wait!" Rachel said. She walked up to Spot and kissed him on the cheek. "We better get back inside. It's getting late." 

Spot stood there for a second and smiled. "Yah, we should." 


	5. chapter five

**Chapter Five **

Kris yawned and stretched her arms. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. _Good! I'm still here! She stayed in bed for a while and looked around her surroundings. Some newsies were sleeping on the floor, while some were sharing bunk beds. Kris had never seen the Lodging House this full. She turned to her left and saw Mush sleeping on his right side, quietly snoring. _Aw! He looks so cute! _Suddenly, she heard someone mumbling. She looked down on the floor and saw Race clutching his pillow like a baby. _Ouch… the last time I slept on the floor was…_Kris cleared away her thoughts and started patting Race on the shoulder. _

"Race… Racetrack… wake up…" she whispered as she leaned down towards him. 

"Huh? Wha?" His eyes were droopy and were hardly even open. 

"You can take my bed for now… It must be hard sleeping on the floor…" she exclaimed as she started getting up and helped Race on her bed. _Haha! It's like putting a little kid to bed! _

"Thanks, Kris…" he whispered and covered himself with the blanket and started snoring. 

Kris looked at Mush. _At least he's not sharing beds with anyone… _She climbed in on his bed and slowly laid down. The bed could only fit one person, so Kris changed her mind and sat up on the bed and leaned on the wall while Mush lay asleep. _I can't help it… I gotta wake him up! _First, she started poking him on the shoulder, which didn't seem to work. He just ended up batting her hand away. _Ha! I know! My grandma always used to do this to me! She smiled to herself and started tickling Mush on his tummy. _

"Stop it Kloppman…" he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. 

Kris laughed, "Do I look like Kloppman to you? Cause if I do…" she answered him teasingly. 

Mush opened his eyes to see Kris sitting up on his bed. "Kris!" 

"There you go! Me… I'm Kris," she said as she pointed to herself. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs and saw Kloppman's face come out of the door. "Him… that old guy right there… HE'S Kloppman." 

Mush chuckled and answered, "I promise I won't get you two mixed up the next time!" 

"The next time?" Kris raised her eyebrow and looked at Mush. But before Mush could answer, Kris heard a scream and a thud on the floor. It seemed like something covered in white fell down from a top bunk. 

"Owie…" said Rachel as she pushed the blankets out of her face. 

"Be careful there, girlie. Falling out of top bunks ain't fun." Kloppman said as he started waking the other newsies who were still asleep. 

Kris laughed and walked over to Rachel, "Are you okay? It sounded like you fell pretty hard on the floor…" 

Rachel groaned, "No, I'm perfectly fine." She rolled her eyes. "I just thought that I was still in my BIG COMFY BED!" 

"Who fell?" asked Race who was already awake while Kris was helping Rachel up. 

"Rachel fell from the top bunk," answered Mush laughing. He kissed Kris on the cheek and said, "I'll be right back... gotta go change." 

~*~ 

"There! That's my last pape!" answered Race as he handed an elderly gentleman his last copy of The Tribune. 

"Thank Gawd! I thought you were gonna take forever!" shouted Kris. She was sitting on a nearby bench watching Race, Mush, and Rachel sell their papes. She seemed to be getting better at selling papes. She meshed together the art of charming people into buying her papes and making funny headlines. 

"I'm almost done…" mumbled Mush as he started shouting headlines. 

"Hey, Kris! I got one more! You wanna do this together?" shouted Rachel as she started walking towards Kris. 

Kris nodded and linked arms with Rachel. "Sure!" 

Rachel and Kris walked off, keeping their distance from the boys, just to make sure that they wouldn't know they were together. Kris cleared her throat as she nodded at Rachel to see if was ready. Rachel nodded back and smirked. _This is going to be fun! _

"Hey! Didn't you hear? That missing little boy was finally found!" said Rachel as she tried to raise her voice for everyone to hear. 

"What boy?" asked Kris as she scrunched up her face in confusion. 

"Don't you remember?" shouted Rachel. "Its so sad! He was found walking in the streets somewhere, with bruises and scratches on his face!" 

"Poor boy!" gasped Kris. 

"I know! Lucky that someone recognized him!" said Rachel as she pointed at the newspaper in her hands. "SEE?" 

"Oh…" said Kris as she looked at the picture. "I… I'm not feeling well…" Kris playfully put her hand up to her forehead. "Rachel? Where are you?" 

"Kris! I'm here!" Rachel was ready for what was coming next. Kris "fainted" and fell in Rachel's arms. Rachel was trying to act scared, while trying not to laugh at the same time. Numerous numbers of people came over to help Kris and Rachel, especially Kris, to see if she was alrite. Some people bought her newspapers out of pity, and the others did it just out of plain generosity. They felt sorry for the girls. 

In less than a minute, they were done selling their papes and clutching their stomachs with laughter because of what just happened. 

"I've never laughed so much before!" shouted Race, who seemed to be wiping tears from his eyes. "I'm about to cry!" 

"I've never heard of a newsie crying before… but hey, I guess if it's from Manhattan, then it all makes sense." 

Race turned around to face a tall boy with dark black hair, tanned skin, and hazel eyes. It was Kyle. He was standing in front of Race with a smirk on his face. His hat rested on his head to shield him from the sun. 

"Do I know you?" asked Race. 

"And forgetful too…" _Manhattan newsies are such softies. _He looked behind Race to see Rachel, Kris, and Mush. He ignored the others and his gaze fell on Kris. "Hi, Kris," he said as he waved towards her. Mush's eyes widened and he stood in front of Kris. 

"What are you doing?" whispered Kris to Mush. 

"I'm protecting you!" he whispered back as Kyle moved and tried to see a better view of Kris. But as he did that, Mush kept on blocking him. 

"From what? From somebody saying hi to me?" she answered. _Kyle's alright! I don't understand why he won't let me…_

Finally, Kyle gave up and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright… well, I can tell when I'm not wanted. See ya around." He waved at Kris again and walked away. 

"What was that all about?" said Race. "It's not like I did anything to him!" 

"He was that Kyle guy I who was asking about Rachel… or… me, I guess," answered Kris. "Hey, who's that?" she pointed towards a girl standing a few feet away from them. She was waving frantically. Her blond hair was flying in the wind and her blue eyes were looking for something, or someone. She looked like the complete opposite of Kris. 

"Um… I've… Let's go… she's probably one of those weird maniac girls that walk around New York," answered Mush. Kris noticed that Mush was acting unusual. She even saw Mush glance at Race and Race looked back at Mush as if they knew something that she didn't. 

"What's going on? Do you know her? And why are we leaving so quickly?" asked Rachel as Mush pulled them away from were they were standing. 

"I''m thirsty," Mush quickly answered. "Let's go get a drink." 

Rachel looked at Kris and mouthed "What?" But all Kris could do was shrug and keep on walking. _Is it just me or was she waving to Mush? Nah, I'm just imagining things…_ Kris pushed the thought out of her head as they walked up to a small restaurant she'd never seen before. 

"So? Are we going in?" asked Kris. "Or are we gonna wait for the glasses to float out of the door and come here?" She was getting irritated. Mush was hiding something from her. 

"Um… just wait here. I'll go inside and get it," said Mush as he walked in the door. 

Rachel scrunched up her brow and looked at Race. "Race… what's going on? Why's Mush acting all weird?" 

"I... uh… I… he… Mush…" 

But before Race could finish what he was saying, Kris saw Blink run towards them. "Hey guys!" he said as he put his arm around Kris for a small hug. Blink looked at Race. "Didn't you see Jamie? She kept on bugging me if you guys were going to hi to her," said Blink as he pointed towards the same girl who waved at them before. 

Kris and Rachel looked at Race. His eyes widened with fear as if to tell Blink something as he started shaking his head side to side frantically. But Blink didn't see what Race was doing, he was already pointing her out to the girls. "Oh, no…" muttered Blink. 

Kris saw the same girl who was waving at them earlier walk towards them. 

"Look what you did! Dumb!" said Race as he slapped Blink in the face. 

The girl drew nearer. She had the same look in her eyes like before. She was looking for something. "Hey Blink! Race! Who's your friends?" 

Race was still in a state of shock and stood to the spot. Blink seemed to not know what to do. He looked from Kris to the girl. Finally, he said, "This is Kris and Rachel." Kris and Rachel said their "hi's" and "hello's" while all Jamie did was smile. There was silence in the air until Kris heard the door to the restaurant open. It was Mush, holding two glasses of water. "Sorry, there wasn't enough…" his eyes widened as he saw what was in front of him. 

Jamie ran over to Mush and hugged him quickly. "Mushy!" she screamed. "I haven't seen you for so long! Where'd you go?" she asked as Mush tried his best not to spill the glasses of water. 

Mush's face turned into a color of deep red as Jamie moved away from him. "I… I… uh…" 

"He's been busy selling papes!" shouted Race. Rachel nudged Race as if to say "NOW you talk!" 

Jamie shrugged off what Race had just said and turned to Mush. "But you were never busy when we were going out!" she said as she pouted in front of him and the others. 

"Excuse me?" said Kris as she made her way towards Jamie and Mush. She practically pushed Blink out of the way. "What did you just say?" _This can't be right! Did she just say they went out together?! _

"Are you deaf?" said Jamie sarcastically towards Kris. "Ooh, water!" She took one of the glasses of water from Mush's hands and drank all of it. 

"Hey! That's supposed to be mine!" shouted Kris. 

"Gimme one of those!" shouted Race as he ran over to Mush and took the other drink for him. "This is just too much drama!" 

Jamie shrugged and looked back at the shocked Mush. "So… wanna meet up again? I got nothing going on tonight!" 

"NO! I—he—mush we--her-you—ring—what—NO!!!!" shouted Kris as she stared at Mush with anger. 

"But…I…" started Mush as he walked towards Kris. 

Kris inhaled another breath of air, took a step back, and looked at Mush. She looked at him with anger in her eyes and thought of putting knives down his throat. She wanted to shout and rant at him much more but only one word came out of her mouth. "No," she said as calmly as she could. She felt her eyes water and tears roll down her cheeks. She turned around and started walking away. 

"Kris! Wait!" shouted Rachel as she started running towards Kris. 

Jamie looked at Mush, Race, Blink, then towards Kris and Rachel who were walking away quickly. "What is it something I said?" 

"I… I'm going after them. They don't know where they're going…" said Race as he started running towards them. He turned around and looked at Mush. "Mush? Are you coming?" 

But all Mush did was stand there and watch Kris walk away. 

~*~ 

Rachel kept running after Kris as far as her legs could take her. For a few minutes, Kris ran striaight towards the crowd, but after a while, she turned and ran towards an alleyway. "Kris wait up! Come on! You know I can't run fast in the morning!" shouted Rachel as she ran. She turned towards the same corner that Kris did, but instead of seeing Kris, all she could see was an empty alley. She leaned against the wall and sat down. She was breathing heavily and sweat was pouring from her forehead. Suddenly, she saw Race standing in front of her. He was also out of breath. 

"You… you girls… you girls run fast!" he said as he tried to take a breath of air. 

Rachel shrugged. "We ran a lot at our school… and anyways, I don't run fast." 

"Where'd Kris go?" asked Race. He was looking around the alley to figure out where she went. 

"I dunno… when I ran in, I couldn't find her." Rachel stood up and started dusting her dress. "She was really upset…" 

"Yeah… news that like that isn't easy to take. How about we give her some time? I'm sure she'll be fine…" said Race as he took Rachel by the hand. 

"No! But New York is such a big place and I'm worried about her!" shouted Rachel. She looked at Race and pleaded. "She's my best friend!" 

"You're not the only who cares about her! Don't worry, I'll let the other newsies know about it. There's a big chance of finding her since there's Manhattan and Brooklyn newsies around." Race explained as he hugged Rachel. 

~*~ 

_The way she hugged him! I can't believe it! After all those things we went through and he replaces me with the first bimbo he sees?! _Kris was running as far as her feet could take her. She didn't care about where she was gonna end. She just needed to be alone. Suddenly, she bumped into somebody and she fell on the ground. She looked down on the ground and sat against the wall. She felt a huge shadow upon her. 

"Kris… is that you? Are you alright?" 

Kris looked up and saw Kyle. There was a gray hat on his forehead and he was wearing a white, or used to be white, blouse with brown pants. He bent over and tried to help her up. Kris shook her head as he tried to usher her up. "No… I wanna stay here…" 

"But this isn't safe… if I didn't come, somebody would've probably…" Kyle stopped before he could finish what he could say. 

"Only for a while okay?" She looked up at Kyle and begged him to stay. Kyle finally saw Kris' face. Her eyes were red, and tears streamed down her face. She didn't look upbeat and happy the way she did last night. He nodded and sat down next to her. 

"Did something bad happen? Did anybody hurt you?" he asked as he pulled her towards him and hugged her. She laid her head down on his shoulder and nodded. They sat there for a few minutes while Kris relaxed in Kyle's arms and tried to clear her head while Kyle sat there, moving his hand up and down her shoulder to give her comfort. Kris sniffed and looked up at Kyle. "Thanks…" 

"No problem… anything to make your day. So… you ready to walk around? Or do you still wanna stay here on the ground and rot 'till you die?" he asked teasingly. 

Kris nodded as Kyle helped her stand up. "You wanna go anyplace in particular?" 

Kris chuckled, "I wouldn't know. Its not like I've lived here all my life." _Oh yah… he doesn't know I'm from the future. _

"Alright, well… I wouldn't know either. I'm not familiar with Manhattan," he answered. They were back walking out on the streets again and Kris tried her best to look presentable. 

"Hmmm… I know! Do you know Medda? Irving Hall?" asked Kris. _What I need is some music… When I'm feeling mad or anything, music helps me… _

Kyle beamed. "I know where that is! Follow me." 

After a few minutes, they were finally in front of Irving Hall. Kris looked around to see where she could enter. "Do you think that Medda would let us in? It looks like the place is closed…" 

Kyle knocked on the door and peered in through the window. "Anybody there?" 

Right when Kris was about to give up, she saw David walking through the crowded streets. An idea flashed in her head. She threw up her arms and waved at David. "David! Hey! Davey!" she shouted. 

David looked around for a while to see who was shouting his name, and when he finally saw her, his face was full of shock. "Kris?! Is that you?" He walked towards her and hugged her. He looked at her face and his face suddenly grew full of concern. "Are you alright? Were you crying?" he asked as he pulled away. 

"Don't worry… just forget that. Um… do you have any idea how to get inside? I wanna talk to Medda…" she said as she pointed towards Irving Hall. 

"Course! Follow me!" he said as he led them towards a door that seemed to lead backstage. "This is where Jack brought me when the bulls were chasing us. It's a good place to hide out." 

"Thanks, Dave." Kris smiled and looked around the room. 

"So… who's your friend? And where's Mush?" asked David. 

Kris blushed and looked down on the ground. "Um… This is Kyle and Mush… he's…" but before Kris could answer, she saw Medda walking towards them. "David! What are you doing here? It's been a while!" she exclaimed as she hugged David. 

"It's cause of school… Father's making me go but that doesn't mean I won't be stopping by once in a while!" he said. Then he saw Medda look at Kris and Kyle. "Um… this is Kris. Remember that dance she did with the other girl? That was her… um… around 6 months ago, I think." 

Medda nodded while David talked. "I remember… you have a beautiful voice! But don't do that dance around here again…" she said cautiously. 

"Sorry about that. It's just… we were just having fun," answered Kris. "Um… do you mind if we stay here for a while?" 

"Course not! Good timing too, since I've finished rehearsing so you have the stage to yourselves. There's a piano out there if you need it," said Medda as she started walking away. "I have other business to do… bye!" 

Kris, David, and Kyle waved at her. "Thanks!" shouted Kris. "And thanks David! I really needed to get in here." 

"No problem… I gotta go see Jack about something. Bye Kris! And… Kyle!" he said as he walked out the door. 

"So… here we are…" Kyle said as he looked around the place. 

Kris nodded. "Let's go out on the stage!" She ran towards the stage while Kyle trailed behind her. 

"So what exactly are we going to do?" asked Kyle as he walked out on the stage behind Kris. 

Kris shook her head. "No… its not we, it's me… You sit down and just watch." She walked towards the piano and sat on the stool. She started tapping a few notes here and there until she was finally comfortable with the piano. 

"Come on! When are you going to start?" asked Kyle impatiently. 

Kris shot him an angry look and replied, "Geez! Just wait!" _I don't even know why I brought him here…_ "Alright… here goes…" She laid her fingers on the piano and started playing and at the same time, she started singing. "There will never come a day… when you will hear me say… that I want or need to be without you…" Kris sang as much as she could. She let all her feelings out through the songs she was singing. A few hours later, she was lost in her own world. "… then I realize all I need is you in my life… cause I never felt this way about loving…" 

"Wow…" said Kyle as he stood up and walked towards Kris. "No wonder you needed to come here so badly…" 

Kris shrugged. "Music's my thing… and I express my feelings towards it. It's just something I always do." 

"Or maybe more. You know, you can turn this into a profession," said Medda as she walked towards Kris. 

"You were listening? The whole time?" Kris' eyes widened. She was used to having audiences, but it just seemed odd to her that people came out of nowhere just to listen to her. 

"Dear, I couldn't help it! I heard you from my office… and you just hypnotized me!" chuckled Medda. "Why don't you come here a few times for practice and maybe you could perform here sometime?" 

"Wow… um… that's a lot! Sure! I'd love that!" said Kris. A big grin replaced her frown and she was floating in air. She impressed somebody! 

"Um… we better get going… we've been here a long time," said Kyle. Kris nodded and looked at Medda. "Thanks again!" she waved and followed Kyle to the door. When they stepped out, it was already night and the moon was high in the sky. 

"Can you believe that? WOW!" Kris kept on thinking about what had happened with her and Medda. They finally reached the Lodging House and saw Race and Rachel standing near the doorway. 

"KRIS!!!" shouted Rachel as she ran towards her and hugged her. "Where'd you go?! We were looking for you and you got us all worried! We thought you were lost or something!" 

Suddenly, Kris remembered what had just happened this morning. Kris… Mush… Jamie… Blink. Her face fell, but she tried to keep a smile on her face. "I'm fine. I just went to Medda's to cool off. Don't worry," she said as she pulled away from Rachel. 

"You gave us a scare there, Kris!" he said as he put his arm around her shoulder. 

"Well, I guess you won't be needing me… g'night Kris…" said Kyle as he waved at her and walked up the stairs. 

Rachel and Race looked at each other to confirm what they just saw. "You were with HIM? Did I just see THAT?" asked Rachel. Kris nodded while Rachel and Race looked at her flabbergasted. 

Kris shrugged, "He helped me… but forget that. If it wasn't for him, I would've probably been lost." 

Race nodded, "She's got a point." 

"But…" started Rachel. 

"No, let's just leave it at that. I'm tired… from all that running," Kris chuckled. "I'm going to sleep…" she said as she walked up the stairs, leaving Race and Rachel. _Why'd I have go alone? I'm going to have to see Mush again! She braced herself for what was about to happen. She was finally on the top floor. The newsies were milling around just as usual. She looked around for Mush and saw him sitting up on his bed. Carefully, she walked towards her bunk bed in effort not to talk to Mush. _

"KRISSIE!" shouted Jack. In the corners of her eyes, Kris saw Mush jump out of his bed. Jack walked towards her with a big grin on his face and hugged her. 

_DAMMIT JACK! _Kris smiled and looked at Jack. "Hey Jack. Sorry, but I don't feel like talking right now… I'm going to sleep… I'll just talk to you tomorrow alright?" _Please don't put up a fight! _

Jack nodded. "Sure, I understand… nighty-night," he walked Kris towards her bunk bed and walked away. She lay down on the bed and tried to get comfortable. She looked over to her left to see Mush looking at her. 

"Kris… I…" he started and sat down at the edge of her bed. She saw her ring was hanging from his neck. He took her hand and opened his mouth for an explanation. 

_No… the last thing on my mind will be what happened with Medda today…_"No… tomorrow…" she said as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. 


	6. chapter six

**Chapter Six **

Kris looked at herself as she washed her face. _Is this really me? I mean… here I am in the 1900s, making a living selling newspapers. At least in 2004, I had a choice of what I could do. But here… this is so… different. And what's even more frustrating is that… _Kris sighed and began to towel her hair. This has been her third day staying with the newsies. Everyone else was asleep in their beds, with Race in her bed again, while she was up early in the morning. _And I'm changing too… I don't stay up anymore … I wake up early and get up early! _She looked at herself and made sure she looked presentable. She was wearing a white blouse and a dark blue skirt that ended at her ankles. She was also wearing brown chunky shoes that she was actually getting used to. She walked out of the bathroom to see Kloppman already waking up the other sleeping newsies. 

"You don't mind if I wake some of 'em up do you Kloppman?" asked Kris with a smile on her face. _This is gonna be interesting.._

"Oh! Yes, please! This is much more that I can handle!" said Kloppman as he started to wake up Boots. "Boots! Wake up!!!" 

She walked over to Race and bent down to see that he was snoring. Kris started giggling and shouted so that Race could hear her. "Are you sure I heard that right? Race won FIVE DOLLARS?" 

"Money!" he mumbled as he quickly sat up in bed. "Where?" He stretched out his hands and started looking on the bunk bed. "Here? Where?" 

Kris smiled and patted Race on the head. "Good Morning, Race!" She took off her shoes and jumped up to Rachel's bunk bed. She sat on the right side of the bed. She laughed again as she heard Race say, "But… where's the money?" She turned her attention to Rachel and started poking her madly on the shoulder. "Raaaccchhheeellllll…." She said in her best whiney voice. But before Rachel could open her eyes, she rolled over on the left side of the bed, screamed, and fell in Race's arms. 

"You FELL AGAIN!" said Kris as she tried to get off Rachel's top bunk bed. 

"I'm going to have to make sure that I'm here to catch you!" said Race as he put down Rachel. While Kris headed for Blink's bunk, which was right above Mush's, she was sure that she saw Rachel blush as she walked towards the bathroom. 

_NOW… I haven't been spending anytime with Blink… but hey; let's see what I can come up with. _She stood on the edge of Mush's bed so that she could prop herself up towards Blink's bed. Blink was still asleep and half the blanket was covering him. Kris started to punch him on the arms. "Wakey wakey!" Kris continued when she saw Blink ignore her. _Okay, with a little bit of strength now…_ She punched him as hard as she could, but at the same time, trying her best not to hurt him. 

"Owie!" said Blink as he rubbed his arms. 

"Owie? Wow, I've never heard of a guy say that…" said Kris teasingly. 

"Kris?" he asked as he started to open his eye. 

Kris nodded and whispered, "Um… is it okay if you sell papes with me today?" 

"Sure… why not? Hey… is Mush awake?" Blink was already up and started getting down his bed. 

Kris shook her head. "Nope. You can wake him up…. I'll meet you downstairs." Kris turned around started walking towards the stairs. 

** 

Rachel walked into the bathroom and started getting ready for the day. _I fell into Race's arms! That was embarrassing! _She got dressed, wearing a white blouse and pink skirt. _How I miss wearing tube tops and jeans! I'm only wearing spaghetti straps and shorts to sleep. _She finished getting ready and walked out, to see Kris gone. "Hey? Does anyone know where Kris is?" she asked as she started looking around for Kris around the room. 

"I think she's downstairs with Blink," said Race as he started looking for his cigar. "Who keeps stealing my cigars?!?!" he said as he turned around to see Snipeshooter holding his batch of cigars. He quickly grabbed his cigars, shoved Snipeshooter down his bed, and started puffing on one. 

"Thanks!" Rachel looked at Race who was already smoking his cigar. She put her hand up to her nose and held her breath. "How can you people smoke that thing?!?!" Rachel as she started to cough from the smoke. 

"Oh… sorry Rach! So… who you gonna sell papes with today?" Race asked as he smiled at her and started putting out his cigar. 

"Um… I think I'll sell with Spot today." She turned around and saw Spot go downstairs. She quickly ran down the stairs and shouted as she ran after him. "Hey Spot! Good morning!" 

Spot turned around and smiled in memory of the kiss. "Hey Rachel! Someone's in a happy mood!" 

"Yah… I'm happy. I have no idea why." Rachel said as she shrugged and started laughing. "Um... Spot? Can I sell papes with you today?" She walked up to Spot who was putting on his hat and getting ready to go outside. 

"Sure… if you want to…" he looked at Rachel and walked out to the fresh morning air. 

They walked outside to see Blink and Kris laughing at something she didn't know. _I wonder what they are talking about? Hmmmmm…. "Hey, let's go talk to them!" said Rachel. Spot nodded as he led them towards Blink and Kris who had already calmed down and stopped laughing, but found that Rachel was already there. _

"Hiya Kris! Hiya Blink! What a beautiful day!!" Rachel exclaimed as she started skipping towards them. 

"Boy! Aren't you happy!" Blink said laughing. "Hey Spot! Wanna go in and get the papes? The girls can wait here... I don't think Mr. Weasel would be too happy seeing girls with us." 

"Oh alright. We'll be right back." Spot turned and followed Blink. Rachel and Kris saw Specs, Snipeshooter, and many other newsies passed by. 

"So… you're selling papes with Spot today huh?" Kris said as she nudged Rachel on the ribs with her finger. 

Rachel looked at Kris with a confused look on his face. "What? It's nothing!" 

Kris smirked, "Yeah, right. Seriously Rachel… is it Spot or Race? Cause you seem to be spending a lot of time with the two of 'em!" 

"Can't a girl sell papes with a guy without getting cross-examined?!" said Rachel. She turned to look around and saw Spot waving at her and calling her to come. "Anyways… I got to go… talk to you later. I'll meet you at Tibby's ok?" shouted Rachel as she started running towards Spot. 

_That girl's never gonna make up her mind… _Kris walked over to Blink who was already holding a stack of papes. "So… I guess we'll see who's the better newsie!" she said as she took a couple of papes and started shouting headlines. 

~*~ 

"There! Done!" said Rachel as she started walking towards Spot. They were standing in the middle of the busy streets of New York, and everybody seemed to want a pape from them. Spot smiled and waved to Rachel as he sold off his last pape. 

"So what were you doing outside that night? Looking for shooting stars?" Spot winked at her and they started walking down the streets. 

_Shooting stars… Race! _"I… uh… I couldn't sleep… I just needed to walk around for a while." Rachel looked up at Spot and smiled. _Wow… blue eyes! His eyes are like oceans! I can just drown in them._ Her thoughts flooded in her head as she looked at Spot's eyes.

"Rachel? Rach? Are you okay?" said Spot as he waved his hands in front of Rachel's face. But Rachel didn't move. Spot shrugged and started walking away, turning around once in a while to see if she would follow. 

Rachel snapped out of her daydream and looked around. "Spot? Spot? Where are you?" She looked around and ran to Spot. "Don't you walk away like that! I thought I was lost." 

Spot stood there laughing at Rachel. They both looked into the streets and saw that there was hardly anybody around. Suddenly, out of the blue, Rachel did a cartwheel in the middle of the streets. 

"Whoa there, girl. How did you do that? Did you live with monkeys?" joked Spot as he looked at Rachel in amazement. 

Rachel laughed and looked at Spot. She did a few more cartwheels, landing perfectly on her feet. She turned around again, looked at Spot and said, "It's pretty easy. You should try!" _This is going to be so funny! Then she did a few more. _

Spot carefully watched how Rachel did her cartwheels. He held up his hands, imitating Rachel, bent down on the ground and tried to pick up himself. But instead of landing on his feet, he landed on his butt with a "thud". He stood up rubbing his butt and looked up to find Rachel laughing. 

"Hey! It isn't that easy as it looks!" Spot said blushing still rubbing his butt. 

"No… No… you were really good! You were better than me when I started learning!" Rachel said trying to stop laughing as she walked over to Spot. 

"Really? You really think so??" Spot said in amazement. He leaned on her for support. He couldn't exactly walk just yet. 

"No…!" joked Rachel as she stepped away from Spot. He stumbled when she let go, making him look like an old man. She turned around and yelled, " I'M JUST JOKING WITH YOU, SPOT!" She walked back towards him and let him lean on her. "Let's go to Tibby's! I'm hungry!" she said as they walked… or hobbled towards their favorite restaurant. 

**

Rachel walked into Tibby's only seeing Brooklyn newsies. _Hey! Where's all the Manhattan newsies? _She turned around and saw Spot walk in. He was feeling better already; at least he wasn't limping like before. Spot made her swear not to tell the other newsies. 

"Hey boys. You guys are here early," said Spot. He took Rachel's hand and led her to a table full of Brooklyn newsies with straight faces. There was definitely something different from Brooklyn and Manhattan newsies. They weren't very welcoming. "This here is my friend, Rachel. So youse better be nice to her," he said as he pointed at them menacingly. 

"Hey..." Rachel said feeling a bit uncomfortable. _Where's Kris?!?! _She sat down next to Spot, looked at him, and burst out laughing. Rachel had to put her hand on her face to keep from laughing out loud. 

"What? Do I gots dirt on my face?" Spot looked at her confused. 

"No… I just thought of how you looked like when you fell on your butt!" Rachel laughed. Rachel gasped and just figured out what she had said. "Oops…" She turned to find a select few of Brooklyn newsies trying not to laugh. But Spot saw them, and turned bright red. 

~*~ 

Kris looked around from the edge of Blink's newsie cap, which was propped fashionably on her head. _I could NEVER find these kind of hats in our time… at least I finally found one that fits me!_ She had borrowed Blink's hat since it had been another hot day. The sun seemed to be giving off extra effort to keep the day alive and bright. Her eyes fell upon Blink, who was happily giving a gentleman his last pape and taking the penny that the gentleman offered him. 

"Took you long enough!" chuckled Kris as she walked towards Blink. 

Blink rolled his eyes and looked at Kris. "How was I supposed to know you were a born newsie? It seems that you've been selling papes all your life!" He said as they started walking towards Tibby's. "Are you sure you're from the future?" asked Blink jokingly. 

Kris nodded her head. "Why won't you guys believe me? I AM from the future! Remember that airplane thing I was talking about with Race when I made a bet with him? I'm positively sure that it'll happen!" she said as she started looking around again. _I wonder where's Mush…_

"If you say so…" mumbled Blink as he ran his fingers through his blond hair. Kris saw a glimpse of silver run down his arm. 

_Hey, that looks familiar… _"Is that… Emily's bracelet?" asked Kris as she took Blink's arm and pulled up his sleeve. She looked at Blink, who turned a deep shade of red, as he nodded. "Wow… you have it all this time?" 

"Of course!" Blink retorted. "It's not that easy to forget about someone…" 

_I know how you feel… _"So how have you been doing lately? You're alright… right?" asked Kris as she looked up at Blink to see if he was hiding anything. 

"Do I look messed up to you? I'm fine, Kris. I just needed a little bit of thinking when Emily…" But Blink didn't finish his sentence, his voice faltered and he looked down on the ground. 

"Aww… its ok…" said Kris as she put her arm around his shoulder. 

Blink looked at Kris and smiled. Suddenly, his gaze fell upon something in front of a brown colored building filled with windows. _Oh no…_ Blink looked at Kris out of the corner of his eye and made sure that she wasn't looking. Instead, Kris was happily playing with his newsie hat. "Hey, Kris… why don't we go another way? I feel like walking…" Blink quickly grabbed her arm and started walking the opposite direction. 

"But—what--" Kris protested from Blink pulling her away, but her sentence was cut off until she saw why Blink had done what he needed to do. She stopped walking and stood frozen to the spot, with her arm still held by Blink. Standing in front of the building was Jack, Mush, and Jamie. Jamie and Jack were talking to each other, and not taking notice of other people, except for Mush, who was watching them and listening. 

Blink looked at Kris and saw the pain in her eyes. Her dark brown eyes seemed clouded and deep instead of looking bright and alive. Blink sighed and started tugging Kris' arm. "Come on, Kris… it won't help if you go over there right now…" 

"But…" uttered Kris. All she could think of was Jamie and Mush, wondering what had happened when she was gone. 

Blink shook his head and finally got Kris to move, although very slowly. "Mush is just as confused as you right now…you shouldn't have ran away like that yesterday," said Blink as they turned the corner and started walking through an alleyway. 

"Why? It's not like staying there would have helped! And anyways…" said Kris as she looked down on her feet and felt a wave of depression come over her. "It looked like Jamie and Mush were very close…" 

Blink snorted. "Close? I wouldn't exactly say that…" 

"WHAT? Blink! What does that mean?" said Kris as she looked up at Blink. 

Blink avoided Kris' look and stared straight ahead. "Hey, we're here…" Kris looked ahead to see Tibby's, the restaurant the newsies had always gone to. Blink opened the door for her as she walked inside. _What did he mean?! Were they.. _But Kris' thoughts were interrupted when she heard a voice talking to her. 

"…with us?" Kyle was standing in front of her and was trying to ask her a question. 

Kris looked up to see Kyle. "Oh, sorry… what did you say?" 

Kyle inhaled a breath of air as if to make asking look so hard. "I said… maybe you'd like to sit with us? Spot and Rachel are already sitting over there," he said as he pointed to a circular table full of Brooklyn newsies that Kris didn't know. She saw Spot and Rachel sitting next to each other, who seemed to be having a good time. 

"So… yes or no?" asked Kyle as he bent down to look down on her face as if expecting to see the answer written on her forehead. 

"Um… sure." Kris shrugged and looked at Blink. "You don't mind right?" Blink shook his head and patted Kris on the shoulder. "Have fun… but remember us Manhattan newsies!" he said as he walked over to a different table full of Brooklyn newsies. 

Kyle led Kris towards the table where Spot and Rachel were sitting. Kris saw Rachel look up from her conversation with Spot and wave at her. She patted the empty chair right next to her. Kris walked towards the empty chair, followed by Kyle. 

"Hey, Kris," said Spot as he smiled and put his arm around Rachel's shoulder. 

_What is going on?! _"Um… Hey Spot," said Kris. _He doesn't talk to me like that! The last time we talked, he insulted me! Well, not really…_Kris looked at Rachel and noticed that she was having a fun time with Spot. Kris shook her head and looked at the rest of the Brooklyn newsies. They didn't seem very welcoming. 

"You want anything to drink? I'm going to the bar to get some water…" said Kyle as he stood up from his chair. Kris nodded and smiled, "Sure." 

Right at that moment, when Kyle left, Kris heard the door open. She looked over to see who it was, trying not to make it too obvious. Standing in front of the doorway was Mush. He didn't seem to notice where Rachel and Kris were so they started walking towards where Blink was sitting. A few minutes passed, which seemed like hours, Kyle still didn't come back. She stole a glance over to where Mush was sitting and saw him looking at her. Kris quickly looked away and blushed. She looked around for somebody to talk to. Right then, Kyle came back, holding four glasses of water. 

"Sorry it took so long… there was this Italian kid who took forever…" he said as he placed the glasses on the table. 

_So that's where Race is! No wonder I didn't see him come in! _"Oh… thanks," said Kris as she reached out and took a sip of water. She looked at Rachel and saw her still having a conversation with Spot. _Oh sure, just leave me here with a group of boys I don't know…_

Suddenly she felt as if a huge shadow was hovering right above her. She looked up to see Mush and Race standing there, their faces grim and their eyes with determination. Kris peeked a glance from her shoulder and saw that Rachel and Spot noticed that Mush and Race were standing there, glowering at them. Kyle was ready to stand up and take a shot at them, but Kris prevented it as she took a hold of Kyle's arm and forcing him to sit back down. Kyle glared at Mush, sat back down, and looked at Kris. 

"Rach, why are you sitting here? Don't you want to sit with us?" asked Race as he looked at Rachel with concern. 

Rachel looked at Race, then at Spot. "I… I just felt like sitting with Spot today. Is there anything wrong? I can't sit with Spot?" 

Race shook his head and shrugged, "No… no, 'course not." He looked at Mush as if waiting for him to say something. Mush's face was rigid while he looked at Kyle and Kris. He stretched his hand out, waiting for Kris to take it and said, "Come on, Kris… let's go sit over there… you _wouldn't_ want to be sitting here don't you?" 

Kris looked at Mush thoughtfully. She looked at his hand, then to Kyle, who was looking at her with concern. _But he's right… I DON'T want to sit here… but why is Mush acting this way? It's not like he owns me! And Kyle was there when I needed help… or when I needed someone to cry on. AND I saw him with Jamie today! I'm staying here! _Kris shook her head and looked at her glass of water, then looked up at Mush. "No… I'd rather stay here." 

His hand fell as he said, "But… I know you, Kris! You wouldn't sit with anyone you didn't know! Come sit with us!" 

Kyle seemed offended; he stood up quickly, causing him to push his chair over. He stared at Mush and glared at him. He walked up towards him, close enough that their noses were almost touching. "She doesn't want to come, you get that?" 

Mush nodded, still looking at Kyle. "I get that… but remember this, she's mine…" whispered Mush just enough that Kris could hear him. 

Kris' eyes widened at what she just heard. She quickly stood up and walked over towards where Mush and Kyle were standing. "Excuse me? Since when am I… YOURS? I'm not a stupid object you leave lying around!" shouted Kris. Kris realized that everyone was watching what was going on, but she didn't care. 

Kyle smirked and looked at Mush. "Hmmm… looks like you don't have a claim on her, so that--" But Kyle's sentence was cut off when he suddenly felt a huge impact come upon his face. Mush had hit him on the nose. Kyle put his hand to his nose and looked at it, then looked back at Mush. He raised his arm up high, ready to punch Mush back, but before he could Mush was already all over him. 

Kris backed away to avoid herself from getting hurt. She looked at either newsie, unaware of which one she should protect. Soon enough, the boys were fighting, full on, punching at each other, kicking at each other. Nobody seemed to do anything until Spot ran over to the two boys and tried to break them up. "Hey… hey boys! STOP!" he shouted as he stood in front of them, giving enough space between Kyle and Mush. Kris saw that Kyle nose's was slightly bleeding and Mush had a black eye on his right eye. Even though Spot was standing between them, the two boys seemed to be very determined and kept on stealing punches from one another. 

Kris sighed and edged towards them. She stood next to Spot and looked at Mush. But before she could even stand to where she was expecting to, she felt something hit her on her right shoulder. She looked at Kyle, who looked shocked. "I… I…" he said as he retreated. 

Kris shook her head and rubbed her shoulder. "You know what? Forget it. Both of you aren't worth it," she said as she passed through the boys and walked out of Tibby's. 

Rachel looked around the room. Kris had just left them again. Kyle and Mush were still staring at each other, as if blaming each other for what just happened. _I can't take this anymore! _"Man, you guys! Why the hell did you do that for? Fighting doesn't work! And then you get all hurt and bloody for no reason." Rachel yelled at Mush and Kyle as she stood up from her seat and glared at them. Then, Rachel turned to the rest of the newsies sitting inside the room. The Brooklyn newsies were on one side of the room while Manhattan on the other side. "You, newsboys, should know fighting ain't worth it. You only fight when it's important! Fighting over a girl shows the girl that you're immature. Girls don't like that!" she said as she wailed her arms in the air. 

There was a moment of silence. Jack got up and walked over to Rachel. "Whoa. You're good. You restored order. Now what do you suggest we do?" Jack whispered. 

_I have no idea… _ "Okay now listen! I mean it. LISTEN! We're going to split up and look for Kris. And NO FIGHTING! Then we'll all meet back at the Lodging House. NO FIGHTING," she said as she pointed at the newsies fiercely. 

"So who are you going with?" Rachel turned around to find Race looking at her, his face full of anger. "Are you going with me or Spot?" He turned to Spot and then looked back at Rachel. 

"Yah, who you going with?" Spot questioned Rachel as he walked towards her and Race. 

"Oh my lord! This ain't about me it's about Kris! She might get lost out there! I'LL GO MYSELF!" shouted Rachel as she headed for the door. 

Jack ran out after her and caught her by the hand. "Wait Rachel! You don't know the way around." 

"I RATHER GET LOST HERE THAN LISTEN TO RACE AND SPOT FIGHT OVER ME AND KRIS UNHAPPY!" she said as she pulled her hand away from Jack and shouted Rachel so that both Race and Spot could hear. Before Spot and Race can say anything, Rachel disappeared. 

As it turns out, both the Brooklyn and Manhattan newsies went in search for both the girls. They were feeling ashamed and guilty for the shouting that Rachel had given them. They had never looked at fighting that way. So, Mush and Jack went back to the Lodging House just in case they was there. However, Blink and Race went to look for them around Central Park. Spot and some Brooklyn newsies looked around the river by Brooklyn. Kyle, on the other hand, went to look for Kris by himself. He knew where to look for her. 

~*~ 

"I'm so sorry, Medda… if I seem to be intruding…" said Kris as she looked up at Medda, who was wearing her pink costume. 

Medda laughed and took Kris by the arm. "You can come here as long as you want. The stage and piano will be waiting for you…" she said as she led her towards the part of the stage where the piano was sitting. "Who could resist your voice? I'll be out back if you need me." Medda smiled and walked off the stage. 

Kris sat on the piano stool and looked at the piano with its black and white ivory keys. In truth, she didn't really know how to play the piano. She only knew a few songs that Rachel had taught her. Kris smiled to herself. Rachel was the real piano player. She was just imitating her. She even shocked herself on how quickly she caught on. Kris finally decided on a song and started playing the piano. 

Kris looked around to see if anyone was there. She looked down at the piano to make sure she was doing it right and started singing, "There's no time… move along… but I've come much too far… and I know what's in my heart. And I know what I feel… I can tell when it is real…" Kris voice faltered as she heard footsteps. 

~*~ 

Rachel ran through the people passing by, not giving a glance back at what had just happened. She had just shouted to a bunch of newsboys. Most of them, bigger and stronger than her. But she didn't care; she needed to let them know what a fool they were making themselves. They had hurt her friend… her very best friend. She was probably beyond repair. But Rachel didn't think of Kris, Mush, or Kyle as she began to slow her pace. 

She looked around and found herself in Central Park. She remembered it when Spot and her were looking for Mush and Kris the first day they came here. She sat beneath a shady oak tree. She felt the hardness of the trunk as she laid her back down and looked up at the sky. Patches of sunlight fell on her face as the branches and green leaves of the tree moved back and forth to the motion of the wind. People were passing by, giving no notice to the girl sitting under the tree. 

Rachel sighed and took in what she saw. _This is probably going to be the only time I'm going to have peace…_ The park looked peaceful, letting her put her troubles aside. Suddenly, her body felt tired, her eyes felt droopy and her eyelids tried its best to stop snapping up and down. Rachel rested her head on the tree and fell in a deep sleep. 

~*~ 

"Don't stop… you sounded really good…" 

Kris rolled her eyes. It was Kyle. _You're the last thing I need right now.. _"Really? The last time you were here with me, you were too impatient to hear me sing…" Kris saw Kyle had moved up towards the stage and was already sitting next to her. It looked like he already stopped bleeding, although there were still some blood on him. 

Kyle shrugged. "I didn't know I was expecting something that great," he said as he inched towards her. 

Kris backed away. "Right… well, stay still. There's still some blood on you," she said as she took a piece of tissue from out of her skirt pocket and started wiping his face. 

"So I guess this is your… hiding place huh?" asked Kyle while Kris kept on wiping his face. 

Kris nodded. "I guess so… I mean, the boys don't come here that often and Medda doesn't mind that I'm here. So yah… I guess you can put it that way." Kris stopped wiping Kyle's face and put the used tissue back in her pocket. She looked back longingly at the piano, wanting to play some more, but changed her mind. 

"So where's everybody? Out looking for me?" asked Kris as she started getting up from the stool and walked down the stage. Kyle quickly stood up and followed. 

"Um… sorry about that… I was so into the moment that…" Kyle looked at Kris shyly. 

"That you thought I was Mush?" Kris laughed. "I've never heard that one before." 

A few minutes later, they were within walking's distance of the Lodging House. Kris insisted that they hide from the other looking newsies to avoid making a fuss, making them duck corners constantly. 

"So… here we are…" said Kyle as he looked at Kris. They were outside the Lodging House and there was nobody around. 

Kris smiled, "Yup… ok, well I'm going upstairs now…" Kris walked towards the door, but suddenly, she felt a tight grasp around her wrist and somebody pull her back. She saw Kyle's face up close, and felt as if she couldn't breathe. Kyle had pulled her towards him and kissed her intentionally. 

"Mmm.. stop!" said Kris as she pushed Kyle away. She looked at Kyle, who started to look ashamed. "What'd you do that for?" shouted Kris as she wiped her mouth. _Ack, he slobbered all over me! _

"Sorry… I couldn't help it! I really like you Kris… and since Mush isn't…" he stopped talking and looked up at Kris. 

Kris sighed. "I like you Kyle… but…" She shook her head and turned around. _He'll never understand! _She looked back at Kyle, who was standing at the same spot, unable to move, and started walking to the door. But before she could enter, she saw that someone was blocking the door. Their arms hung limply from their sides, and he was standing firmly on the ground. His eyes seemed to be filled with pain and his mouth was in a tight grim line. Kris raised up her head to see who it was. Her eyes widened and the feeling of misery filled her heart. 

"So that's how it is? You like him?" 

"I… no…" Kris trailed off shaking her head and looked up at Mush. He made his way up the stairs, tuning her voice out. 


End file.
